The Alps

It’s silly, Lui thought, so silly to be so agitated like this when you’re sitting next to a magnificent view of the Alps and the Staubbach Falls in front of you.

He could almost slap himself in public.

It was full of people at the famous viewpoint, Lui was lucky to get a seat on one of the benches under the big tree. Tourists were coming and going, barely spending time to watch the Falls, and instead had their backs on it, posing for the cameras…

It was a completely different sight compared to Lui’s last visit to the same spot, almost five years ago now. That time, it was winter, cold and gray, the grounds were slippery, there was just a thin line of water falling down the mountain, and there were no one else there but Lui and his friend, who he came with for his first trip outside of Germany, only three months since moving to the new country.

That time was also his friend’s first time in Switzerland, though she had already been in Germany for more than a year, doing her masters, and at that point she too had already started with her first job, just around the same time as Lui did. They were still both broke however, not having saved anything up yet, and Switzerland was not cheap, so they made sure that every train ride, every snack, and every 1€ visit to the toilet was worth it.

And it was worth it.

Lui nearly cried the first time he had seen the Alps, still on their train from Bern to Interlaken, as if they had entered a portal to some magical world, of staggering white mountains, pointed as the Toblerones had portrayed them to be, and surrounded by expansive blue lakes. And it wasn’t like Lui had never seen majestic nature before, his four years in Japan afforded him of encounters with some of the most beautiful trees, rivers, and mountains — but something about these Alps made him feel smaller, undignified, and nothing but a speck of dust compared to what these poised rocks have turned themselves to be.

That was five years ago. Since then he had seen more of what Europe had to offer in terms of breathtaking views. The vast landscapes of Iceland, which looked to Lui like they were either covered in black sticky mud, red Martian soil, or bluish-white glaciers, and whose icy winds seem to announce humans should not be here. The view of the Acropolis on top of the hill which could make anyone believe in Zeus for a moment. The intricate and fanciful architecture of Gaudi in Barcelona, the life-sized statues on every street in Florence, and the brightly colored half-timbered houses at Colmar’s old town.

But even after seeing all that, Lui always came back to the Alps. It didn’t matter from which vintage point — from the  Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria, the Bodensee Lake at the intersection of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, from the peak of Europe, Mont Blanc in the French side or the three peaks of the Dolomites in the Italian side, or right in the middle of it where Europe’s fourth smallest country called Liechtenstein lives. Wherever it was, it was sure to heal Lui’s toughest inner battles.

Yet somehow that day had been exceptionally difficult.

He had been feeling impatient all day.

Impatient of the tour bus that came an hour late to pick them up at Stuttgart Airport earlier that day. Impatient of the tour guide who spent too long giving out unnecessary information that Lui already knew. Impatient of his phone that charged way too slow with his newly bought powerbank. Impatient of waiting for their turn to buy a train ticket from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen, especially after having had a head start from their group by leaving the introductions early only to lose it again after spending too much time at the grocery store for some unsavory sandwich.

But most of all, he was impatient of his sister, who was with her that day.

Or perhaps, he wanted to be impatient of his sister. He wanted to be frustrated with her. To make her feel guilty for making him go all the way to Switzerland that Saturday when he had rathered be at home and rest or do some writing. When he knew he was too old for such budget trips now that he could afford to plan a trip all on his own. When as much as he loved seeing the Alps, he would have rathered see it at some new location, not there where all the tourists crowded.

Was he just finding reasons all day to be mad at her, to make her feel bad of how she made him feel bad, after all he’d already done for her these past few years: helped her with her college education, helped her with her licensure exams, helped her on getting a Job-seeker’s Visa to Germany, helped her get enrolled to multiple German language courses and tests, helped her find a job in Germany, helped her find an apartment close to her new job, helped her get a residence card, a health insurance, open a bank account, a Deutschland ticket subscription, taught her how to get around, how to do groceries, how to segregate trash, what to do at a doctor’s appointment, at a job interview, and on her first few days at work…

And after all of that, how could she make him get up so early on a Saturday morning, sit on a cramped bus for six hours and get bad sleep, only to be sitting next to a towering mountain and glorious waterfalls, waiting for her to finish making her reels.

No, no, no. It must be he who was silly.

Silly to even think of depriving his sister of a well deserved break three months into her first job in a foreign country. Knowing that a budget trip, on a weekend, was all that she could have afforded at the time, especially not having any Vacation Leaves yet. Knowing that just like him five years ago, the Alps was also what she was most excited to see since moving to Europe. And being well aware that for a first timer, every little view demands a photo, a video, and a social media post.

But she’s taking too long now, Lui thought. I should call her. It’s been almost an hour since his sister decided to continue walking up the Valley to shoot more reels, I think I saw that there’s a river up there and some more cowbells, she told her brother.

Lui, on the other hand, opted to stay next to the Falls.

Drink his freshly collected spring water.

Watch the people come and go.

And of course, look up the mountain in front of him, which from his view stood like a giant wall with a rugged, carved wood-like surface. Observing closer, he realized that some of its crevices had formed what could be caves, platforms, and staircases, some of which had a few tourists standing on them — they looked like climbing ants from Lui’s eyes.

The waterfall dropped like a line of galloping white wolves, jumping from one bump of rock to the other, emitting smokes of white clouds on every turn. It cut across this tall wall, from the very top to the very bottom, almost in a straight line right in the middle. And on its foot, where the falls then turn into rivers that continued to roll down the hills, was a cavern on which some more tourists stood, watching the waterfalls from behind.

He got bored of it too, of course, after a few minutes, his mind also wandered off, he looked on his phone and scrolled, eavesdropped on people’s conversations (but only if it’s in English, German, Japanese, or the occasional Tagalog), but then he went back and stared at the view again, as if it was new to him.

A group of American tourists sat next to him then and discussed whether they’d stay for one more night at the Valley or visit a different city.

Next to the glorious mountains, it must have felt disrespectful to say out loud that they’ve seen enough of it and would rather go someplace else. So it took them a few back and forth until one of the wives finally said that if it was gonna be more of the same, they should just drive to Geneva or some other Swiss city. The ladies have decided, one of the husbands responded, as if he hadn’t been thinking the same too.

Compared to what they have in the US, the Swiss Alps must not be all that great, Lui thought.

Lui couldn’t reach his sister, or at least she hadn’t been picking up… They had agreed for her to be away for only thirty minutes, and it’s been an hour now. If she took any longer, they would miss the next train and have to wait for another thirty minutes — limiting their time at the next destination.

He gave up after trying three times.

This trip was for her anyway, it’s her loss if she misses the next spot, Lui thought.

Five minutes later, he noticed a message from her, where are you kuya? I’m here at the front…

He looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. I don’t see you, he replied. We’re already late, we have to take the next train now.

I’m here in front.

He didn’t get it, she wasn’t there.

So he called her, and learned that she was already back at the train station. That’s what she meant by the front…

Shit, did they miscommunicate where they’ll meet up?

Why didn’t you tell me earlier that you were walking back down there.

Now he had to run so they could try and catch the coming train.

Ignoring some pain in his feet, he walked as fast as he could to get back to the station, he had less than ten minutes for what took them fifteen minutes the other way up.

He saw his sister waiting at the corner from the station, her face he wanted to spite but just decided to ignore and continued walking on. They had less than one minute, and the train must be there now and leaving soon. He didn’t even look back to see if his sister was catching up to him. Past 13:30, he was sure that the train had left, but he went up the platform anyway.

Of course, the train wasn’t there anymore. Pissed, he could’ve abandoned this trip altogether and left his sister there and then.

Luckily the train station was open air and Lui could still view the mountains from the platform benches. He saw his sister finally got up the there too and sit down, he wanted her to look guilty, say sorry, but she just seemed calm, and maybe a little perplexed at how his brother was behaving.

I’m being silly again, Lui thought. Why am I spoiling my sister’s good time. None of this was supposed to be for me.

Slowly, he walked back to join his sister at the bench, they didn’t have to talk the rest of the waiting time, just looked at the mountains in front of them, even if at some distance now, until the next train came. Being earlier than everyone else, they got to sit next to the windows which they knew would have great views on the way to Grindelwald. Soon enough the train was full, to the point that people had to stand on the aisles.

As the train was starting, Lui asked his sister, in monotonous voice so as to hide his giddiness about the opportunity they have earned, “video kita diyan? (Do you want me to take videos of you there?)” His sister nodded excitedly, and they took some beautiful reels for their vlog.